When to Throw Away SCOBY (2024)

FAQs

When to Throw Away SCOBY? ›

When is it time to replace your SCOBY? Here I'm referring to the SCOBY in its entirety, as in, when do you need to start over completely? You will only need to replace your SCOBY if it has developed mold or if it is continuously struggling to ferment.

With proper care, SCOBYs can last many generations. But when you see excessive, dark yeast growth on a SCOBY layer, or if it starts producing Kombucha that tastes bad or overly acidic, it's time to get a new one. New kombucha recipes can be made.

A moldy or dead scoby is quite distinctive, and there is no mistaking it when you see it. The mold will be white or colorful, fuzzy and dry. It can appear as spots on the scoby, or cover the scoby altogether. A dead scoby will be black.

Storing Your Kombucha Scoby in the Fridge

The scoby will then go dormant and can be kept for up to 6 months. However, we've already seen scobys that had been forgotten for over a year in a corner of the fridge come back to life without any problem.

Maintaining Your SCOBY Hotel

It will likely be very sour, but you can still drink it or use it as starter tea for a new batch. You will replace this liquid with NEW and fresh sweet tea! It's that simple! Top the jar off with your new sweet tea and your SCOBYs are good to go for another month or two!

The color of your SCOBY doesn't matter. The darker you brew your tea (or coffee), or the darker the sugar you use (like Sucanat), or the longer a SCOBY remains in the jar from batch to batch, the darker she will get. This is simply staining from ingredients, so no worries.

The mother scoby is VERY dark brown, this happens over time and is normal, and the baby is creamy white. If tugged gently the old mother will fall free of the baby scoby. Once a scoby has turned this very dark brown it is old and can no longer brew (this can take 6 months to 1 year).

Put simply, kombucha SCOBYs can be reused for many years. Realistically, however, you simply won't need it to last that long. Your SCOBY grows and divides with each batch of kombucha, so you will constantly be growing new SCOBYs. Simply remove the older layers and transfer the new layers to your next batch.

In time, a new SCOBY will start slowly forming on the surface and thicken over time. So rest assured, a sinking SCOBY is nothing to worry about! Now that we've debunked the SCOBY position myth, you can celebrate knowing your batch is healthy!

Those blue circles of mold are the problem, while the white circles of SCOBY growth are normal. Powdery tan mold covers much of a new SCOBY – mold is always DRY! White fuzzy dry mold is easy to spot.

What happens if I leave my scoby too long? ›

If you leave kombucha on the counter with the scoby too long, you get something that taste like vinegar and can be used to replace vinegar in recipes. But the addition of the juice in this case fed the active yeast and bacteria in the kombucha.

This is fine if they're getting too large or if you'd like to split them up to move some to a SCOBY hotel/share with a friend. You can't hurt your SCOBY by ripping it or cutting it. Its shape doesn't matter since new ones will always take the shape of the surface of whatever container you place it in.

Just like mould in other food items (eg. bread), mould on your scoby looks and smell the same. A healthy scoby is usually white, cream or brown in colour, anything else might be suspicious.

For each gallon of sweet tea, use 1 large SCOBY (5-6 inches across, ½ – 1 inch thick) and 1-2 cups strong starter liquid.

Compost your SCOBYs - they are rich in probiotics and will help increase the soil's nutrient availability.

If you leave kombucha on the counter with the scoby too long, you get something that taste like vinegar and can be used to replace vinegar in recipes. But the addition of the juice in this case fed the active yeast and bacteria in the kombucha.